U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa
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Southern Africa: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 6 covering the period 5-12 Feb 1999
ZIMBABWE: A week of tension
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe said four of the country's Supreme Court judges had "over-reacted" in asking him to comment on the illegal detention and torture of two journalists by military police and should therefore resign.
His remarks, in an unscheduled weekend television broadcast, were followed by the detention on Sunday of four other journalists with the 'Zimbabwe Mirror' over a report last October on the on the death of a Zimbabwe soldier serving with his country's contingent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Two were released within 24 hours. Two others, reporter Grace Kwinjeh and publisher Ibbo Mandaza, were released on bail and ordered to appear in court on 1 March.
Amnesty International, Reporters sans Frontieres, local and foreign media and the legal fraternity at home and abroad protested what they called a crackdown on the media and Mugabe's response to the Supreme Court judges.
By Tuesday, university students returning from the summer holiday demonstrated in the capital Harare against the government's attitude to the rule of law and the DRC intervention. No serious injuries were reported in clashes with police, and local human rights activists described the atmosphere in Harare as tense.
Mugabe's comments In his broadcast, Mugabe said he was responding to a letter he received from the Supreme Court judges saying the rule of law had been brought into question by the detention and torture of two journalists held by military police last month.
He instead challenged the judges themselves to resign: "Some of our judges have shocked us by behaving in a manner we regard as unbecoming. They have over-reacted, and indeed they have forgotten their professional role as judges, which is to sit and hear cases in court and pass judgements on them." The only honourable choice would be for them to quit the bench and join the "political forum", he said.
Mugabe also cited "insidious attempts by British agents planted or recruited in Zimbabwe to bring disaffection amongst us". He also criticised the independent press, human rights and church groups over the furore that followed the detention and torture last month of the editor of 'The Standard', Mark Chavunduka, and Ray Choto, a staff journalist, for publishing a report alleging a coup plot in the Zimbabwe army.
"This falsehood was given to readers of this country who should be the beneficiaries of press freedom," he said. The press, he added, "think they have the freedom to disparage, deride, malign, libel and viciously attack others with impunity, mischievously interpreting this freedom or right of expression to mean the right to instigate and even incite arms of Government, including the Army to mutiny or to turn against the appropriately elected Government of the day."
The reaction
In a reaction to Mugabe's remarks, Iden Whetherell, deputy editor of the 'Zimbabwe Independent' said the country's independent media were "outraged" at the way Mugabe had attempted to justify the action against the journalists.
"This is a total repudiation of the rule of law," he told IRIN. "If the president does not respect the judiciary and the rule of law, then there is a serious concern for the safety of ordinary Zimbabweans. Overall, the speech reflected a justification of cruelty."
"If rule of law is undermined in Zimbabwe, it will have an impact on other Southern African countries," Amnesty International said in a statement. "We would urge Southern African leaders to speak with their Zimbabwean counterpart to reaffirm the importance of the rule of law, the freedom of the press and the independence of the judiciary."
Foreign correspondents ordered to submit work permits for verification
Meanwhile, the 'Zimbabwe Independent' reported that the Immigration Department of Zimbabwe had demanded that local and foreign journalists working for the foreign media should submit their work permits and passports for verification.
Media sources said the move was widely seen as part of the current crackdown. At least three foreign correspondents based in Zimbabwe told the 'Independent' that they had received calls from officials of the immigration department demanding that they submit their work permits and passports for scrutiny.
A permanent secretary in the information ministry, Willard Chiwewe, said that they were updating the correspondents' work permits. He added that the government was taking steps to regulate the operations of the media in Zimbabwe.
ANGOLA: A new refugee movement
This week, UNHCR publicly disclosed a new refugee crisis involving the flight of nearly 20,000 people across Angola's northern border into the DRC.
The UNHCR announcement confirmed reports last week that thousands of refugees were moving into the DRC as the war between government forces and the UNITA opposition movement pushes deeper into northern Angola. A UNHCR official also told IRIN that a few hundred refugees had crossed into Zambia as well.
He said the new wave of refugees entered DRC through the Luvo border post from the Zaire Province capital, M'banza Congo, which lies 100 km south of the border. M'banza Congo was captured by UNITA forces some 10 days ago.
The UNHCR said that as of 2 February, 6,040 refugees, 4,000 of them children, had been registered in Songolo, DRC, some 50km north of the border. A further 4,080 refugees had been registered at Kimpese, about 100km north of Songolo. Reports also indicated that there were an estimated 9,000 refugees camped in the southern DRC border town of Matadi.
Thousands more of internally displaced people
The UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (UCAH), meanwhile, reported that an estimated 11,000 people had fled towards the besieged government-held city of Malanje 380 km east of the Angolan capital Luanda.
Local NGOs in the area said they were fleeing Cangandala, some 50 km south of Malanje, and entering the city even though it has been subjected to repeated UNITA artillery bombardments which have destroyed many buildings and much of its infrastructure.
Inside the city itself, UCAH said the main market was operating at 50 percent capacity, and that although some basic products were still available, prices had increased considerably in recent weeks. It said WFP and its partners in Malanje had encountered difficulty distributing food because of the security situation. Nevertheless, it had managed to provide food supplies to over 15,000 displaced people between 28 January and 1 February.
The central highlands In the central highlands city of Kuito, some 550 km southeast of Luanda, UCAH said WFP had managed to distribute food to more than 60,000 people last month following heavy UNITA shelling in December. With CARE as its implementing partner, the report said 1,200 mt of food would be distributed among 93,000 people, 70 percent of them internally displaced persons camped in the city.
Besides the fighting, a natural disaster
In a bizarre twist to the Angolan crisis, UCAH also reported concern by the humanitarian community that erosion set off by heavy rains was endangering people in the besieged government-held city of Luena, some 800 km southeast of Luanda.
A rapidly spreading rift in Luena, capital of Moxico Province, had already severed water-supply pipes and was now threatening to cut electricity supplies to Luena's 150,000 residents. "This will have a very serious impact on the population because they are already accommodating an estimated 40,000 internally displaced people," a UCAH official told IRIN.
"Worse still, there is no obvious solution to this problem and people cannot leave the city because of the war and roads too insecure to use." WFP, he added, had however, managed to fly emergency supplies to the city airport.
ANGOLA-ZAMBIA: SADC offers to help mediate growing distrust
For the third week running, Angola reiterated its charges that Zambia had provided military assistance to UNITA. Zambia again denied the charges suggesting that the UN and regional bodies, which investigated such claims in the past, take a fresh look. The growing war of words between the two nations prompted the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to help defuse the tensions.
SADC told IRIN that the regional body was concerned about the two countries' relations, and that it had discussed the issue with representatives of both sides. An official said the regional body was considering "the possibility of convening a meeting to facilitate corrective measures" aimed at restoring good relations.
Although SADC states had undertaken not to assist UNITA, the official said it was not impossible that individuals in nations like Zambia could operate in breach of government regulations.
MOZAMBIQUE: Major donors to assist with election
Major Western donors said this week that they would help meet the costs of Mozambique's second general election. Scheduled for October this year, the government announced that it is expected to cost just over US $42 million.
Minister of State Administration Alfredo Gamito said the government itself could only afford about US $9 million. The country's first general election in 1994, held after years of civil war, was won by President Joaquim Chissano's Frelimo Party which took 129 seats, against 112 by its wartime rival, Renamo, and nine seats by a smaller opposition coalition. The European Union (EU) has already offered election funding amounting to US $23 million. The remaining US $10 million would come from other donors through the UNDP. Marc De Tollenaere, a UNDP official in Mozambique told IRIN that these donors included Norway, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, as well as the United States, The Netherlands and Britain.
An estimated 10,000 election officials will begin registration of the country's eight million voters in May.
Flooding destroys farmlands
Flooding caused by heavy rains since early January has destroyed nearly 180 square km of crops in central Mozambique. The National Food Security Early Warning System told IRIN it had sent an assessment team to the area near the coastal city of Beira which was expected to report on the full extent of the damage next week.
In January, the Buzi, Punge and Metchuria rivers had burst their banks, the early warning office said. The situation grew worse this month when the floodgates of the Chicamba dam, situated on the Buzi's main tributary had to be opened.
Travel between the Metuchira farming district and the town of Nhamatanda, about 100 km west of Beira was difficult because a key bridge across the Metchuria had become impassable. Another affected travel route is the road that links Beira and Caia, 300km to the north. Further south, in the Manhica district's Incimati valley, flooding has hit about 25 square km of crops, while in Gaza Province about 30 square km of farm lands were flooded, according to the early warning office.
The district of Lugela which is in the central Zambezia Province has been cut off from surrounding districts after the bridge over Lugela collapsed on the 3 February. Apart from the damage to crops, torrential rain has also halted the production at the country's largest textile factory, Texlom, near the capital Maputo.
SOUTHERN AFRICA: CITES authorises limited ivory trade
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) this week granted Namibia and Zimbabwe the right to engage in a limited ivory trade with Japan. A CITES spokeswoman told IRIN that the trade would be limited to supplies from a 60 tonne stockpile of ivory held by the two Southern African nations. She said the two countries and Japan met all the conditions set to enforce and control ivory trade and that it had been allowed to help support elephant conservation and community development projects in Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Johannesburg, 12 February 1999 10:00 GMT
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